Annual Report 2021

September 23, 2022

A Utility for the People of Grays Harbor County

At the Grays Harbor PUD, our strategic planning and services are centered around our core values of:

Our Customers and Our Community
Safety
Open Communications
A Quality and Team-Oriented Work Environment
The Highest Level of Integrity
Professional Growth and Development of Our Employees

The Grays Harbor Public Utility District serves nearly 45,000 customers on the Southwest Washington coast. The utility employs over 160 staff members who provide energy and telecommunication utility services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers.

The public is represented by an elected three-member board, composed of Commission President Jon Martin, Vice President Arie Callaghan, and Secretary Dave Timmons. The board meets on the first and third Mondays of each month in the Dennis G. Nichols Building. During the COVID-19 pandemic, meetings were held remotely, with the public welcome to join via the Zoom app. The meetings begin and end with public comment periods during which members of the community are free to submit comments to the board.

Maintaining Services During the COVID Pandemic

2020 saw the Grays Harbor PUD celebrate its 80th birthday. While such celebrations are often marked with ceremony and celebration, Grays Harbor’s 80th year was marked by the response to the COVID-19 pandemic—an event that continued into its 81st year.

Beginning in April of 2020 and continuing into 2021, the utility began advising staff to wear masks, follow social distancing guidelines in the workplace, and closed its lobby to customers. Staff began working remotely from home or were moved to socially distanced offices within the utility. Critical PUD facilities like the System Dispatch Center were made off-limits except to necessary staff to prevent possible exposure and PUD crews began working from satellite locations to limit exposure.

PUD customers were able to make payments through the PUD drive-up and walk-up windows. All other customer service interactions were carried out over the phone, online or with the SmartHub mobile device application.

With the moratorium on utility disconnects ending in October of 2021, the PUD staff worked with several hundred customers whose accounts had not been paid, in some cases in over a year. Using programs including long-term payment plans, Project HELP, and with the assistance of organizations like the Coastal Community Action Program, customers were able to bring most accounts up to date, keeping those customers connected to utility services.

Capital Investments Strengthen System & Improve Service

In a region renowned for its lush forests, keeping trees and undergrowth from threatening power infrastructure is a key component of PUD operations. To that end, the utility’s vegetation management efforts to remove overhanging trees and clear right of ways of undergrowth and “danger trees” were an important step in improving reliability. Throughout 2021, PUD line crews replaced 507 poles to strengthen the backbone of the utility distribution and transmission system, enabling it to better stand up to the natural elements that accompany life on the Washington coast. Those elements were on display several times in 2021, notably over Presidents Day weekend, when an ice storm knocked out power to thousands of customers along the coast. However, five crews, service trucks and operations teams were able to restore power in less than 36 hours.

In 2021, the PUD’s $10.5-million capital budget included extensive work on the replacement of substation distribution breakers and the development of a new substation in Central Park. Easily accessible from Highway 12, PUD crews have made site improvements, installed switchgear, and mounted a 62-ton transformer with the goal of energizing the site in two years. Teaming with local contractors, facilities maintenance staff have completed the remodel of the PUD credit and engineering department. A larger scale remodel of the PUD Customer Service department will improve the customer experience when the utility reopens to the public in 2022.

Pandemic Shines Light on Importance of Telecom

In a year when schools, businesses and even family gatherings were forced onto virtual platforms, the need and value of a reliable broadband network was made clearer than ever.

With nearly a dozen internet service providers, Grays Harbor PUD is in a stronger position than many utilities. During the 2021 Legislative Session, the PUD put its support behind Senate Bill 5383 and House Bill 1336, both of which fulfilled the longtime goal of allowing PUDs to provide retail telecom service. While the PUD does not plan to implement this in Grays Harbor, the support of such action in the broader PUD community could benefit thousands of public utility customers statewide.

Locally, the PUD continued the process of rural telecommunications expansion with public meetings, a feasibility study, and multiple grant applications to fund new infrastructure on State Route 12 from Elma to Oakville. The utility also began to study the possibility of telecom expansion in the Wishkah, Satsop, and Wynoochee River Valleys and completed a residential telecommunications project on Keys Road in East Grays Harbor County.

2021 Budget: Service, Affordability and Reliability

On November 23, 2020, the Grays Harbor PUD Board of Commissioners approved a $127 million budget for 2021 that put an emphasis on utility service, affordability and reliability.

71% of the operating budget went to power purchases. Utility operations and maintenance costs made up just 29% of the District’s spending.

The budget included plans to spend $10.5 million on capital projects. Over three-quarters of every dollar spent on capital improvements went to the replacement of aging equipment, including aerial and underground transmission and distribution lines, hundreds of utility poles, and substation transformers and circuit breakers. In 2021, the utility invested over $2.1 million into the PUD transmission system, $4.2 million into the distribution system, and $2-million into its substation network. The remainder of the proposed capital budget was dedicated to general plant improvements, including telecommunications, facilities, IT systems, fleet and tools.

Keeping the Lights on with Clean and Reliable Energy

In a year that saw temperature extremes reached with a February ice storm and a June heat dome, the Grays Harbor PUD customers continued to be served with clean and reliable energy flowing from the turbines of the Federal Columbia River Power System. Hydroelectric dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers accounted for nearly 84% of the PUD’s energy portfolio, with another 10% coming from the nuclear generator of the Energy Northwest Columbia Generating Station. With the passage of the Clean Energy Transformation Act, the emission free characteristic of over 95% of the PUD’s energy puts the utility in a strong position with clean and reliable energy, moving into its 83rd year of operation.

Concerns over the ability for utilities to meet energy demands continue to escalate due to population growth, the expansion of electric vehicle ownership, and the ongoing attempts to remove dams from the Lower Snake River. In 2021, the PUD joined with its partners in public power for advocacy efforts with state and federal legislators to emphasize the importance of the existing energy infrastructure in the Pacific Northwest and the role it plays in continuing the region’s leadership in the march towards a clean energy future.

2021—A Year of Change for Grays Harbor PUD

In keeping with the old saying, change was the only thing predictable at the Grays Harbor PUD in 2021, as 12 employees retired or moved on from the utility, to be replaced by 11 new faces. In February, the PUD bid farewell to General Manager Dave Ward, who retired to close out a 36-year career in the utility industry. Ward was replaced by PUD Engineering Director Schuyler Burkhart, who became the 14th general manager in the PUD’s history in March of 2021. Burkhart’s departure from the Engineering Department led to the hiring of Shailesh Shere, who currently directs the utility Engineering, Power Management and Energy Service departments. In addition, nearly sixty years of institutional knowledge of the PUD Operations Department departed in 2021 with the retirement of Operations Director Steve Easton and Safety & Environmental Director Dale Benner, replaced by Jake Carter and Ben Bouch, respectively.

In July of 2021, the PUD welcomed a new member to the elected Board of Commissioners for the first time in over eight years, as Jon Martin was appointed to the board to represent the utility’s Third District. Martin’s appointment filled the seat vacated by Commissioner Russ Skolrood, whose retirement in June ended a 13-year run with the utility.

Utility Contacts (area code 360)

Commissioners:

Arie Callaghan, District 1 - 538-6514
Dave Timmons, District 2 - 538-6267
Jon Martin, District 3 - 538-6289

General Manager

Schuyler Burkhart - 538-6234

Senior Leadership Team:

Ben Bouch, Safety & Environmental Director - 538-6248
Jake Carter, Operations Director - 538-6371
Ian Cope, Communications & Government Relations Director - 538-6232
Rob Hanny, Core Services Director - 538-6281
Sheri Izatt, Administrative Services and Records Coordinator - 538-6416
Katy Moore, Customer Service Director - 538-6510
Angel Rains, General Counsel - 538-6379
Angela Roberts, Human Resources Director - 538-6369
Shailesh Shere, Engineering Director & Power Manager - 538-6353
Kathryn Skolrood, Finance Director - 538-6450